The street lines and crosswalks are a mess all over town. The spray painting truck, that used to come around every late summer / early fall, never came this year.

Some school crosswalks, instead of being painted correctly, we're done with spray paint cans that are used on the grass of the athletic fields. They are nowhere near as visible to traffic as they should be.

Take a look at the crosswalks when you're in surrounding towns. You'll realize that our Stoneham town officials and the Departments responsible for getting this done are not up to the task.

Wondering where our tax dollars went that should have gone to have this done correctly.

I am saddened to see the town I have lived in for 60 years go down the tubes like this, yet when I look, my taxes continue to go up?

The job done there was terrible. I rode by it this morning. I am disappointed in the overall appearance of roads. However, I have given up in trying to understand why everything is so complicated.

The largest part of tax monies go to pay for the school system and all of its encumbrances.

I also saw the lines at Central and Pleasant Sts. Sad. The shoddy quality, drivers allowed to cross on them while the lines are still wet...

I can imagine how far the town has decayed over 60 years. I’ve only been here for 15 years. Perhaps if we sell a little more conservation land, we can get a crosswalk painted.

I understand that around here property values are largely dependent on having a good school system. But does that mean the rest of the town ... the roads buildings, traffic lights, etc. have to erode to such an extent?

Take a look at the departmental budget detail spreadsheets on the town's website at
http://www.stoneham-ma.gov/sites/stonehamma/files/fy18_gf_ef_budget_details.pdf

Scroll down to #400 Public Works. There is a notation the top of this page stating it only includes #491 and not #440 (Sewer) and #450 (Water). Total ask for FY18 is just shy of $2M with almost half going to personnel? I saw an article where our DPW Director Robert Grover's salary was almost $117,000 back in 2011...and there were two other DPW employees right behind him making at least $100,000?

Also shows a pathetic $145,000 for "Repairs and Maintenance" which I guess explains the condition of our streets and sidewaiks zero feedback from Bobby Grover.

Good afternoon:

The painting company did not follow the proper protocol regarding the painting of these lines and is being held accountable.

Thomas G. Younger,
Town Administrator

Thanks for fixing this request!

How does this "fix" this request?? Are they going to strip up the bad painting and redo it, or be financially reimbursed by the painting company? Another vague open-ended response with no transparency as to how our tax dollars are being specifically managed.

The real fix is to figure out how this critical and public safety work was managed by our highly paid appointees producing shoddy and embarrassing results!

Closed

"Closed" by Mein Town Fuhrer...pathetic transparency and honesty.